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Lance Moore not finished yet

PITTSBURGH — Demand for 5-foot-9, 177-pound receivers usually isn’t great in the NFL.

At least not ones from a small MAC school like Toledo. Not ones who go undrafted or who had been cut three times before regularly cracking an NFL lineup.

Yet, eight years later, Lance Moore is still around. Through hard work in the weight room, class room and on the field, Moore turned himself into a commodity and in March, a member of the Steelers’ receiving corps.

“That’s one thing that’s enabled me to stay for so long, kind of having that chip on my shoulder, of feeling that I still haven’t really made it,” Moore said Wednesday after the Steelers’ fifth OTA on the South Side. “That’s what makes me compete with an edge every day.”

That edge is what attracted the Steelers to Moore, signing the former New Orleans Saints standout to a two-year free agent deal in March. For Moore, the chance to work with Ben Roethlisberger was just an opportunity too good to pass up.

“It’s exciting, you’ve got a guy that’s won two Super Bowls, been to another, it doesn’t get any better than that,” Moore said. “The one thing he knows how to do is throw the ball. It’s exciting to come here and be a receiver and get the opportunity to catch balls from him.”

For the previous eight years, Moore had been catching balls from another Super Bowl winning quarterback with Hall of Fame credentials. In 2009, Drew Brees helped lead Moore and New Orleans to its first Lombardi Trophy.

“Drew’s a guy who’s very cerebral on the field, can beat you with technique,” Moore said. “Ben’s a guy that has all kinds of crazy talent, crazy arm strength, can make every single throw. They’re both great.”

Yet after eight years and 101 games with the Saints, including 4,281 receiving yards and 38 touchdowns, Moore was a salary cap casualty after last season. Having been released before by the Browns and Saints, Moore understood a business decision. Saying goodbye to New Orleans was a little harder.

Moore had been a rookie on the 2005 team when Hurricane Katrina nearly wiped the city off the map and was on hand to witness New Orleans’ rebirth and the celebration that followed after the Saints’ Super Bowl win five years later.

“That whole region embraced us,” Moore said. “Us winning football games really helped bring them back a little bit when they were really, really down and not knowing what would happen.”

While he’ll almost always be remembered as a Saint, Moore says he has to put emotions aside and unlearn almost everything that he’s learned -- “trying to rebuild my brain around the system and understand the nuances and adjustments you have to make” – he said.

Having a strong resume to rely upon will help ease that transition, so too will Moore’s familiarity with the Steelers’ other quarterback. At Toledo, he roomed for three years with Bruce Gradkowski and the two have been friends for over a decade.

“It’s easy for me to go home and I’ll pull out my playbook and questions to him,” Moore said. “He’s a quarterback. He knows all the answers.”

Ostensibly, the Steelers signed Moore to replace Jerricho Cotchery. Not only did Cotchery provide Pittsburgh with a team-high 10 touchdowns last season but also his veteran experience. During OTAs, Moore has been mentoring Markus Wheaton, another undersized receiver. At age 30, he’ll turn 31 later this summer, Moore says he still has plenty of good football left in him.

“I’ve got a heckuva story,” Moore said. “But I still have some chapters to fill out.”

PITTSBURGH — Demand for 5-foot-9, 177-pound receivers usually isn’t great in the NFL. At least not ones from a small MAC school like Toledo.

Didn't realize that Lance Moore was very close to the same size as Dri Archer is coming out of a MAC school as well. People worry about Archer being too small to be able to take NFL level punishment, but Moore has been doing just that, working the dangerous over-the-middle area that slot receivers must patrol.

Didn't realize that Lance Moore was very close to the same size as Dri Archer is coming out of a MAC school as well. People worry about Archer being too small to be able to take NFL level punishment, but Moore has been doing just that, working the dangerous over-the-middle area that slot receivers must patrol.

Wow, that is a great point. Archer NEEDS to hang out with this dude.

Seriously, Archer has twice the talent. If Moore can teach him the mental stuff, workout reg, as a fellow short dude, Archer would be an absolute beast.

Didn't realize that Lance Moore was very close to the same size as Dri Archer is coming out of a MAC school as well. People worry about Archer being too small to be able to take NFL level punishment, but Moore has been doing just that, working the dangerous over-the-middle area that slot receivers must patrol.

That surprised me also. I thought Moore was bigger. He should be a great example for Archer to follow. GOOOO MIGHTY MITES!!!

Extra work at multiple spots on the offense will make the Steelers more dangerous in terms of their expanding no huddle offense.

Who says Lance Moore is just a slot receiver?

Not the Steelers.

According to Alan Robinson of the Tribune Review, Moore took snaps as a receiver in two receiver packages during the team's minicamp, which ended Thursday in Pittsburgh. Much of the reason for that could be another option for the team's progressively expanding no huddle packages.

"Over the years, I played more outside, but the last couple of years I was pretty close, 50-50, playing inside and outside," Moore told Robinson who also wrote Robinson could end up as the team's starter opposite Antonio Brown. "I'm comfortable with both spots, and it doesn't matter to me. ... (But) we haven't talked about specifics or game plan-type things or how we're going to go into a game with certain personnel groupings yet."

Using a diverse group of offensive skill position players gives the team flexibility in determining when to use the no huddle. Moore and Brown both could play inside or outside as needed, and using a two tight end set with Heath Miller on first down could trigger a second down from the no huddle with three receivers split out.

Reports suggest the Steelers have spent a good amount of time working on no huddle packages in their offseason program, and with a little over a month until training camp, it doesn't appear they'll scrap that plan now. The amount of no huddle they use this year is the compelling question.

More diverse personnel groupings in the team's base offense gives them a viable weapon to use at quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's discretion.